Daydreamers
by RaiLei
Summary: [oneshot] Red was supposed to be the hero. Ash wanted to be the Pokémon Master. One thing tied them together.


_Everything was _peaceful.

_He was ten years old again, starting out on his journey._

_He had set out from his home in Pallet Town a year ago to collect eight badges and compete in the Indigo League. With Pikachu at his side he believed he could do anything, and with the help of Brock and Misty, he __**was**__ able to complete his quest faster._

_For his first time competing in a Pokémon League, top sixteen wasn't too bad. He had his friends to thank for that; their coaching had been invaluable. Without them at his side, he wasn't sure how far he would have gotten, the two constantly pushing him forward._

_Next, the trio had decided to move onto Johto, the continent to the west of Kanto, Pikachu at his side. Johto didn't seem all that different from Kanto, the discovery of the _new_ Pokémon keeping them on their toes. Just like the Indigo League, he made it to the Johto Championships without much trouble, Team Rocket appearing in the background, their eyes set on Pikachu._

_**Beep . . . Beep . . .**_

_All too soon though . . . the friendship, the laughs, and the comradeship they had developed over the past couple years had to come to an end. Now thirteen years old, the Indigo League and Johto Championships under his belt, the trio decided to return to Kanto in order to figure out where they wanted to go next._

_That's when everything changed._

_Misty announced that she had to take her leave in Viridian City, cutting her journey short. She explained that she had been away from her Gym far too long, her aide's no longer able to keep up to the influx of trainers._

_With the red-head's departure, he found their trio down to two._

_Within moments, he realized that Brock was leaving too, the tanned teen hanging back. He explained about his need to check on his Gym (only one town away, he explained), his siblings, and the small Museum he once worked at._

_And just like that he found himself alone._

_Utterly alone._

_Viridian City disappeared from underfoot, a dark void hanging around him. No matter where he looked, it was pure darkness. Reaching up to adjust his hat, his bangs falling in his eyes, he noticed that he couldn't see a foot in front of his face, the darkness engulfing him._

_**Beep . . . Beep . . .**_

_Then, the darkness slowly started to fade, light seeping through from somewhere. Slowly, the darkness gave way to shades of grey, disappearing in wisps. Raising a hand in front of him, rather sluggishly he noted, he reached out for the wisps, but they were constantly out of reach._

_Then, before he realized it, clouds hovered over his head, the sky a deep blue. The sun was overhead, the brim of his hat shading him, the sea breeze lazily hitting brushing against his face._

_**Beep . . . Beep . . .**_

_He was ten years old, starting out on his Pokémon journey._

_He had separated from Brock and Misty mere days ago, but at the suggestion of the Professor and his mother he decided to head off to Hoenn. That's how he found himself standing at the port in Vermillion City boarding a boat for Littleroot Town, Hoenn._

_It was time to start his journey over again, he couldn't stay in one place too long unless . . . unless _what_?_

_What would happen if he stayed in Kanto, strengthening his team to battle the Elite Four?_

_The Elite Four . . . the name made a shiver run up his spine, the name ringing a far off memory._

_No, he had to keep moving, he had to keep going forward – his dream was to become the Pokémon Master. He couldn't let the darkness catch up with him, then he'd hear those voices again . . . and those faces from a far off memory calling to him . . ._

_**Beep . . . Beep . . .**_

The machine ran quietly in the corner of the room.

Flowers sat on the windowsill, taking in the sunshine.

Get well cards littered the unused desk; balloons from the gift shop proclaiming _Get well soon!_

Friends and well-wishers came and went, the staff constantly complaining about how visitor hours were never kept.

His thirteenth birthday had come and gone, and in a couple more months, he would be turning fourteen. He had been lying there, motionless, for the past eighteen months. Tubes ran across his body in order to help him keep breathing, an IV attached to his arms to provide nutrients.

It was a sorry sight for the once-great Pokémon Master.

"Do you think he'll ever wake up?" A girl said, her features hidden underneath her straw hat. "It's been over a year since –"

"He'll come back to us," a red head said over her shoulder, fixing the flowers. "You know how he is. He's the _hero_, he always shows up at the last moment."

Like the battle against the Elite Four at Cerise Island and against Neo Rocket at the Indigo Plateau . . .

"That may be true, but I don't know how much longer we can wait around," the first girl said, pushing herself out of the chair. "I overheard the doctor telling his mother that a yearlong coma is rare and the outcomes aren't always . . ." she shook her head. "What are we going to do if this turns out _bad_?"

The red-haired girl paused, her fingers hovering over the flowers as she glanced over her shoulder. She smiled sympathetically, the blonde-haired girl staring down at the raven-haired teen, her fingers idly running through his hair, her face hiding by her straw hat.

"Everything will be alright," she smiled, walking around the edge of the bed, laying her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "It's going to be alright Yellow; Red's going to come back. I heard the doctor talking to the nurse on my way in this morning; they _think_ he's dreaming, imagining something so great he _can't_ wake up until it's over –"

"You mean he's dreaming . . . maybe Red's dreaming he's a trainer again," Yellow trailed off, smiling at the silent teen, as she dropped into the chair again. "I hope he's dreaming of something nice, maybe he's on a Pokémon journey that Team Rocket didn't completely hijack and take away from him . . ."

"It's a nice thought," the red-head smiled. "You're the healer Yellow, you would know more about it than the rest of us."

Yellow nodded, staring over the bed, the sun shining through the window. "I think he's happy, Misty, I can imagine Pikachu by his side."

The sight of Red lying motionlessly in the bed just didn't suit the energetic Master.

That's why Green had disappeared into the night with Silver – apparently they were in Hoenn; two variations of Team Rocket hiding in the shadows.

Blue was overwhelmed with trainers wanting the Earth Badge – the large gap between Giovanni and Blue as leaders making the eighth badge even more popular – the teen escaping to the abandoned Cinnabar Island on his days off.

Crystal had gone on the battle the Johto Championships; rumor had it she was training up on Mount Silver, awaiting a battle from Red. Gold on the other hand was still in Johto, working at the Daycare – it was well known he had a talent for breeding.

With the exception of Yellow, the rest of the ragtag group who fought at Cerise Island and in the Ilex Forest, slowly started to go their separate ways. They didn't want to face the comatose Red, and without him present . . . Yellow realized that unless there was a looming disaster, Red was the glue that held them all together.

_I just hope he returns to us soon_ . . . Yellow thought, frowning slightly.

A/N –

Everywhere I look online; I keep finding various theories about Ash being in a coma, etc. etc. My friends and I came up with this theory one night that this "comatose" Ash could actually be Red as you can draw similarities between him and Red, Gary and Blue, and Ash travels with Brock and Misty/Red's friends with them and travels with Misty for a couple manga chapters.


End file.
